This is kind of how I felt about Halloween this year.

Usually one of my favorite times...this year was just kind of gloomy.

A friend of Candice's commit suicide last week and his funeral was Saturday. Very sad how drugs took a person's life and crushed all his hopes and dreams till this was the only way he could see out of the pain. Such a terrible waste.

Candice, Mikal and Meg came over for a while before they went to the "celebration of his life"

I was glad for the way the parents told about him in his obituary. They didn't sugar coat anything and hopefully opened some eyes to the pain and heartache drugs will bring into not only your life, but to the people who love you too.

Anyway, it was good to visit with them for a while before they went to the funeral.

plus....they helped me get the popcorn balls all finished and bagged up!

It was cloudy all day and as if on cue, just when it was time for the trick or treaters to start out, it started to pour. We had some of the regulars come with umbrellas, but not nearly as many as other years. It's always fun to see the kids in their costumes...it's gotten to be mostly grand kids of friends now....the neighborhood has grown up! I love to have my kids friends come by with their own kids to say hi and have a popcorn ball. It was good to see Jamie and her cute girls. She said she was at her aunts and they wanted to come by and see grandma's old house. She said they feel kind of homeless without their old home to go to. Oh how I miss the Larsens.

All the Burns and Smith's family's came by...Kara is a hoot! ...she had us all laughing. She stayed and visited with Candice for a while.

A bunch of the neighbors braved the weather for their popcorn ball..."oh and can I get one for my sister and my mom and my brother who is on a mission..."

It was a fun night, but I was sure missing enjoying the fun with Olivia. Sigh...

Yesterday, we went up to get the boat and bring it home....and naturally that would involve a little fishing.

It was pretty cold when we first got there...frost all over the dock and the boat, but as soon the sun came out, it warmed everything up and it turned out to be a beautiful day!


Little bit of snow on the mountains and the leaves were all gone but still so pretty up there.

We all caught 3 fish...not hardly any competition going on...

(now they were adding up the size and weight of each fish to say who the "winner" was)

HA! Those two kill me! but always make me laugh!

I have been reading this book Katie gave me when we were in Mexico called "The Shack" and finished it while we were fishing. It's a story about a man who has very sad tragic things happen to him in his life, then he gets to spend a few days with God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. It is a sweet story of how he learns to forgive and let God's love heal him. A very good book with lots of good insight on our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I recommend it to all.

Pulling the boat out of the water made the summers end feel final. Kind of sad....I don't know if we will keep it at Strawberry next year...the fishing was good...catching...bad!

I think we will try some other places....